Russ Rose in 1989: “Bessie is one of the most experienced players we’ve ever had here. I could not ask any more of Bessie than she has already given us. She’s a competitive and smart player. If she has a great year, we’ll have a great team.”
1988 Season (Junior) Highlights and Awards: All-Northeast Region … Second Team All A-10 Conference … Most Valuable Player of the Penn State Preview … selected to the All-Tournament teams at the Florida, Penn State and Reebok Classics … won A-10 Player-of-the-Week honors (Sept. 12) after averaging 3.9 kills, 3.2 digs, and 1.06 blocks in seven matches.
Season Recap: Totaled 403 kills, 349 digs, 82 blocks and 39 service aces … finished among the Atlantic 10 Conference leaders in hitting efficiency (.311 ), kills/set and digs/set … tallied 15 or more kills in a match 8 times … collected 20 or more digs on 4 occasions … season highs: 26 kills (vs. Notre Dame), 6 blocks (vs. Rhode Island, A-10 Tournament) and 28 digs (vs. San Diego State).
Before Penn State: Ramirez participated in the 1987 Olympic Sports Festival. .. meber of Puerto Rico’s national team … 1987 Player-of-the-Year in the Puerto Rican Superior League … was listed as a “freshman to watch” by Volleyball Monthly upon entering Penn State … majoring in general arts and sciences.